The Year For Priests
Invites You To Pray The Rosary
For Those Priests Dear To You
Hurray! This is the Year for Priests. I can't think of anyone who needs our
prayers, especially the Rosary, more than the Catholic priest. Pope Benedict XVI
has given the Church a blessed challenge by asking us to pray more for our priests
and by highlighting the importance of these men.
The priesthood is an important vocation indeed.
Without priests, there would be no Catholic Church.
A priest exists not only to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass
but to be a true father to his flock.
His parish composes his children and his job is to protect and nurture them,
bringing their souls to heaven. That is a big job...
And they desperately need your prayers!
For this reason, Pope Benedict proclaimed this year the Year for Priests.
Pray a Rosary for priests
to strengthen them and the entire priesthood.
To read the full address of Pope Benedict XVI on the Year for Priets go here....
Below are some excerpts from Pope Benedict's address announcing the Year for Priests.
"The missionary dimension of the priesthood is born from the priest's sacramental configuration to Christ...This consists in participation in a "new life", spiritually speaking, in that "new way of life" which the Lord Jesus inaugurated and which the Apostles made their own. Through the imposition of the Bishop's hands and the consecratory prayer of the Church, the candidates become new men, they become "presbyters"."
"(There is a) necessary, indeed indispensable, aspiration to moral perfection that must dwell in every authentically priestly heart.
"Precisely to encourage priests in this striving for spiritual perfection on which,
above all, the effectiveness of their ministry depends, I have decided to establish
a special "Year for Priests" that will begin on 19 June and last until 19 June 2010.
In fact, it is the 150th anniversary of the death of the Holy Curé d'Ars, John Mary Vianney a true example of a pastor at the service of Christ's flock."
"It will be the task of...making the importance of the priest's role and mission in the Church and in contemporary society ever more clearly perceived."
"God is the only treasure which ultimately people desire to find in a priest."
"(The priest) may be able to lead the souls entrusted to him humbly and trustingly to the same encounter with the Lord."
"Awareness of the radical social changes that have occurred in recent decades must motivate the best ecclesial forces to supervise the formation of candidates for the ministry. In particular, it must foster the constant concern of Pastors for their principal collaborators, both by cultivating truly fatherly human relations and by taking an interest in their continuing formation, especially from the doctrinal and spiritual viewpoints. The mission is rooted in a special way in a good formation, developed in communion with uninterrupted ecclesial Tradition, without breaks or temptations of irregularity. In this sense, it is important to encourage in priests, especially in the young generations, a correct reception of the texts of the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, interpreted in the light of the Church's entire fund of doctrine. It seems urgent to recover that awareness that has always been at the heart of the Church's mission, which impels priests to be present, identifiable and recognizable both for their judgement of faith, for their personal virtues as well as for the habit, in the contexts of culture and of charity."
"The centrality of Christ brings with it the correct appreciation of the ministerial priesthood, without which there would be neither the Eucharist, nor even the mission nor the Church herself. In this regard it is necessary to be alert to ensure that the "new structures" or pastoral organizations are not planned on the basis of an erroneous interpretation of the proper promotion of the laity for a time in which one would have "to do without" the ordained ministry, because in that case the presuppositions for a further dilution of the ministerial priesthood would be laid and possible presumed "solutions" might come dramatically to coincide with the real causes of contemporary problems linked to the ministry."
Okay now you know what Pope Benedict is asking you to do during the Year for Priests. You can answer his call by clicking
the following links.
If you are still wondering what is the meaning of the rosary beads click here for instructions on how to pray the rosary.
Viewing some of these links requires Adobe to read it, so if you don't have it on your
computer you can download it for free by visiting the Adobe.com website.
So go now...
And start praying those Rosaries!!
You can keep track of these Rosaries using our Personal Rosary Tracker here...
Return to our Rosary for Priests page
More Scriptural Meditations on the rosary here...
Catholic Mysteries Of The Rosary
Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary
The Joyful Mysteries are taken mostly from St. Luke's Gospel in the New Testament. They involve the joyful events of Jesus' childhood. The most joyful event in all of human history is the Incarnation or when God became man and dwelt among us
read more...
Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary
What a gift the the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary are. Meditating on these
Mysteries of Light bring even deeper understanding of the public life of Jesus.
They fill in the blanks between Jesus' childhood and His suffering and death on
the cross. Therefore
read more...
Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary
The Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary remind you of how much Jesus
loves you. He suffered and died for you. "Greater love than this no
man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
-John 15:13. You are loved by Jesus
read more...
Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary
The Glorious Mysteries are the crown of Jesus' triumphs. How
exhilarating to know that Jesus is God and that He rose from the dead,
making you an heir to Heaven. Reminding yourself of these glorious
events as you pray the Rosary prayer will keep your faith alive and strong
read more...
See how you can keep track of your Rosary for Priests here...
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